Elective surgery & pre-admission

At the Royal Melbourne Hospital, we handle elective surgery cases based on clinical need or urgency.

Many surgical procedures require the patient to attend a Pre-Admission Clinic to ensure that essential pre-operative tests are complete and the patient is well prepared for surgery.

Elective surgery

Elective surgery is surgery for which, in the opinion of the treating medical practitioner, admission can be delayed for at least 24 hours.

Timing of elective surgery is based on clinical need or urgency. The surgeon will have assessed the patient’s clinical need and assigned an urgency category for their condition.

The Victorian system has three urgency categories. Each category has a desirable time for treatment.

Category 1: Urgent cases

Treatment within 30 days is desirable for a condition that has the potential to deteriorate quickly to the point that it might become an emergency.

Category 2: Semi-urgent cases

Treatment within 90 days is desirable for a condition that is causing pain, dysfunction or disability but which is not likely to deteriorate quickly or become an emergency.

Category 3: Non-urgent cases

Treatment at some time in the future is acceptable for a condition causing minimal or no pain, dysfunction or disability that is very unlikely to deteriorate quickly and does not have the potential to become an emergency. Treatment within 12 months is used as a guide.

The Elective Bookings Service at the Royal Melbourne Hospital manages all elective surgery bookings and is the best point of contact if a patient’s condition has changed or the patient is not ready for surgery.

It is important to remember that the Royal Melbourne Hospital is a trauma hospital and at times emergency cases may take priority over elective cases. Royal Melbourne Hospital take this very seriously and will endeavour to prevent this from occurring however there is always the possibility of this happening.

Pre-Admission Clinic

Many surgical procedures require the patient to attend a Pre-Admission Clinic to ensure that essential pre-operative tests are complete and the patient is well prepared for surgery.

This includes the patient completing a Health Questionnaire before attending their pre-admission appointment. At the Pre-Admission Clinic appointment there will be a review by a multi-disciplinary team (anaesthetists, allied health staff and liaison nurses) and a discussion with the patient about what to expect in hospital, length of stay and any discharge requirements.

Many of our patients are from country areas or interstate and telephone Pre-Admission may be done with these patients. We may request assistance from the patient's GP to complete pre-operative tests prior to travelling to Melbourne for surgery.

It may be helpful for the patient to complete the health questionnaire with their GP. If your patient requires a pre-admission appointment, a letter will be sent to them and it is important that they attend the appointment.